<p>Okay USC is my top choice school and I had my interview yesterday and I think it went pretty well. It was short but apparently they are usually short so I'm trying not to worry about it. I told the interviewer how much I want to go and that if I didn't get in I'd plan to transfer etc making it pretty clear that USC is my top choice. Now my question is, could an interview be enough to push me over the fence to even spring admission? My stats aren't super competitive for USC.. I have a 3.8 W/2210 and I'm applying to Annenberg. I really want to go more than anything! My UW GPA is something abysmal I believe.. I haven't actually calculated it but I believe it to be somewhere around a 3.4 and I have several C's on my transcript. But I actually haven't seen someone on here who had a good interview and got rejected - I mean I'm sure it happens but do you think they'll take the interview into account enough to even make it a deciding factor? </p>
<p>Just some of the rest of my stats:
- National Merit Semi-finalist
- SAT II Literature 790, SAT II US History 680
- SAT I Breakdown: CR 740, M 680, W 790
- 11 AP classes/AP Scholar with Distinction
- Founded/president of two clubs (Cancer awareness and Gay Straight Alliance)
- National & French Honor Society
- PR Internship with local modeling agency
- Internship with the Red Cross of Dallas
- 150+ volunteer hours
- Tutoring disadvantaged kids
- Professional actress with LA agent/manager
- Leadership positions in Red Cross Club and Habitat for Humanity Club
- PR work with Habitat for Humanity
- Team Leader for Leukemia/Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk
- I run a graphic design website which my interviewer considered a small business</p>
<p>so yeah this kind of turned into a chances thread my bad... but back to my original question - are interviews enough to be a tipping point for admissions? Sorry for rambling on I think I'm just a little stressed...</p>
<p>The interview is not considered evaluative. The interview is informational and optional and not all students will get a chance to have one. It’s hard not to imagine the worst interview in the world might not hurt an applicant, nor the best interview in the world might not help–but they will certainly not be weighed anywhere near the fundamentals USC looks at–GPA and rigor of coursework, SAT, essays, ECs, LoRs, honors and awards, hardship, geographical & minority diversity and what all else.</p>
<p>That said, your high SATs and your great internships in your field, your business (also in your field) and other high creative accomplishments should be influential. </p>
<p>As a NMSF, you are in an interesting spot as USC tries to lure NMFs with half-tuition scholarships. Hope it works to your advantage.</p>
<p>FWIW … Our admissions counselor was pretty clear on USC interviews, basically saying as madbean above did. They are not considered evaluative. So, unless you either blow their doors off and they’ve never met anyone like you before, or it went horribly and they don’t think you belong at USC at all, interviews are pretty much non-issues in the admission process.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your help! I had hoped the interview might be more important - like the previous poster asked, if they really hold such little weight, what is the benefit of holding them? Regardless, I hope my participation was just another method for me to express how serious I am about going… maybe everything else in my app can overshadow my GPA and at least get me spring admission, which I would consider nothing short of a miracle right now lol</p>
<p>Many of my high school counselors and friends affirm that the interviews aren’t that important. That being said, it does give you a chance to personalize an application and put a face to a personal statement.
Don’t stress if you did badly and don’t put too much weight on the interview if you do well. USC puts more emphasis on your scores, gpa, personal statement, and activities. </p>
<p>Best of luck this year to all of you that are applying :)</p>